Shards
by Pink Shoelace
Summary: [DISCONTINUED] The modern day tale of Inuyasha with a more Miroku and Sango emphasis. The search to find the Shikon Jewel shards that will bring five extraordinary individuals together. MS, IK. Chapter 3: Of confrontations and ugly demons...
1. Of Beginnings and Characters

Summary: The tale of Inuyasha told in the modern world. Follow Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, Miroku, and Sango as they search for the Shikon Jewel shards in today's world. Expect IK and MS. Also expect a little more emphasis on Miroku and Sango then what might be expected. The most important thing to note that the tale of Inuyasha is the same, searching for jewel shards, trying to destroy Naraku. Its the setting, and having to adapt to that is what's different. Don't expect every story arc to be there or to be exactly the same.

VERY IMPORTANT! (And some of this also noted above...heh, I'm being repetitive, but it is important...)

A few things to note about this fic: Kagome is not Kikyou's reincarnation and Kikyou is neither extremely important to the plot and may or may not appear. Other characaters may or may not appear. This doesn't follow every event in the story arc of Inuyasha, some of its changed to adapt to the modern world, some of it isn't even mentioned, others will be adapted to a shorter version. Some of the same things will stay the same.

The essential plot of gathering jewel shards and trying to destroy Naraku remains the same. Other things will be very similar and just adapted for the lack of characters.

I ask one thing of you readers, and that is to be flexible with the explanations. Such as, should a gun be able to take down a demon? Anyway, you'll have to read to find out my thinking on such things. However, if you have any such ideas or opinions feel free to express them in reviews!

WARNING! Shorthaired!Inuyasha makes an appearance…you have been forewarned, but don't worry : ), the long hair will be back after awhile!

Now that all the serious stuff is behind us, besides the disclaimer…I don't own Inuyasha by the way…we can move on to the fic!

**Shards**

_Chapter 1_

There it was, the Shikon Jewel. For being such a priceless item, the security around it seemed almost nothing compared to what it was worth. For a hanyou it would be no problem to get the Jewel.

Inuyasha observed this all from the large skylight window that looked down upon the Jewel and its resting place from five stories above. He was dressed in black. Baggy cargo pants with a more form fitting long sleeve T-shirt. A black beanie hat covered not only his dog ears, but the majority of his shaggy silvery hair. His outfit was completed with black tennis shoes.

He knew the merits for wearing black for such an activity as this. It let you blend in with your surroundings, the dark shadows of a cool moonless night. Not that he cared so much, what he was about to do, it wouldn't matter if he wore black or a tie-dye shirt. But black had seemed appropriate so black is what it was. The beanie was rather annoying; it made his ears itch, so he opted to leave it on the roof.

This was it. It was time. Inuyasha grinned, bearing fangs; he took one last look down at the Jewel and then crashed through the skylight.

Glass rained down to the floor as he briefly soared through the air. But he stuck one claw out and ripped in through a hanging banner. Still descending as his claws ripped through the banner, he glanced down at the scurrying guards below him. Then he ran out of banner.

That took him a bit by surprise, but he corrected himself by reaching out to grab a bar that held yet another banner. He made one revolution around the bar and then swung himself out to one of the tall Romanesque columns that were used more for decoration then actual building support.

A sharp, shrill sound filled the air as he dug his claws into the column and Inuyasha finished his descent with a leap toward the pedestal and held the Shikon Jewel. Landing gracefully on the ground he looked around at the guards who had managed to organize themselves in protectively in front of the Jewel.

"Is that all?" Inuyasha asked them. "The only thing standing in front of me and the most powerful object in the world is a bunch of weak humans!" He scoffed, despite the fact that they had all leveled guns at him. Guns would not slow him down enough.

"Get out of my way!" Inuyasha growled at them as he flexed his claws. He didn't give them time to consider. He rushed at them, giving the guards only time enough to get one round of shots off which he anticipated by jumping clear over them. Before they could turn around and attempt to fire at him again. He was punching and throwing the guards clear of the area. Satisfied that he had caused enough chaos, Inuyasha then leapt at the Shikon Jewel.

He laughed as he grabbed the Shikon Jewel, "Finally!"

With the Jewel firmly clutched in his hand Inuyasha leapt away vaulting over one guard and hit the floor running. Some more of the guards had recovered and were attempting to shoot at him, but he was moving to fast and was zigzagging way too much for them to get a clear shot at him. Any guards that stood in his way he just punched without slowing down.

"Ha!" Inuyasha shouted as he burst through the front door. But his victory shout was short lived.

Inuyasha grunted as he fit something thudded into his shoulder. "Ugh!" And then the realization came as he felt himself being thrown backward, a purified arrow…and that meant a priestess. "Dammit!"

"You demons…or should I say half-demons for your case, never think. It's always just about getting there, not getting away! Did you really think that the Shikon Jewel would only be guarded by regular humans?" The priestess demanded. Others stood beside her, all with purified arrows drawn and ready to be released, six in all.

Inuyasha breathed heavily as he felt the arrow in his shoulder, and he distinctly heard the guards approaching the doorway, which he burst through, just as he heard the priestesses approaching him as well. He was helpless to do anything as he felt his grip on the Shikon Jewel loosen. "No…"

The skies opened up upon him as he finally felt the Jewel slip from his grasp. The rain dropped onto him as he laid on the ground, helpless to move as the priestesses moved ever closer.

"What the…?" He faintly heard one of the priestesses say. "The Shikon Jewel?" A gasp.

Inuyasha made himself look, through his blurred vision to find that the lavender colored jewel disappearing. There was a sound of running footsteps, a blur of colors, a murmured "No," or was it a yell? And then some more words and a name stood out among Inuyasha's rapidly fading consciousness, "Naraku…"

* * *

Kagome woke with a start. Something felt…well the only word she could think of was weird. She felt a moment of displacement when she realized she was sitting with her head bent forward against her text book. She attributed the feeling, which was already fading, to the fact that she fell asleep on her desk studying for that big test.

"Test! Oh no, oh no, oh no…and I'm late!" Kagome shot up, nearly falling out of her chair as she glanced at her clock. In a blur of movement, she had washed her face, thrown on her school uniform, gathered her books, and run downstairs, nearly tripping over her little brother in the process.

"Kagome!" He yelled in protest.

"Sorry Souta! I'm late!" She shouted back, bounding into the kitchen.

"Bye mom, bye grandpa!" She said quickly as the two said family members sat calmly the kitchen. Her mother was making some breakfast in front of the stove and her grandfather was messing with some old relic or another.

"Bye Kagome!"

Kagome sprinted outside, taking in the cool morning air. She hopped onto her bicycle, pulling down on her green uniform skirt to try to cover more leg, and sped out of her family's shrine, dodging puddles, and soaking in the morning sun. The ride to her school was brief, and normally she would have opted to just walk, but because she was late, the bicycle would hopefully get her there on time. She nearly ran over a few people on the sidewalk in her haste, and in turn nearly got ran over by a car when crossing an intersection.

She came skidding into the school lot and quickly locked up her bicycle on the rack. The school itself had a surprising amount of space for an inner city school. There was an actual school yard with some grass, trees, and benches made for lounging before and after school. The building was modern, with plenty of windows and a grand entrance, which she ran to her books in her arms. Only a few people were still located on the front schoolyard. And most of them probably weren't even going to come in for their first class anyway.

Kagome continued rushing to her class, dark hair streaming behind hair and her uniform in a mess, getting there just as the late bell rang and taking her seat. She waved at some of her friends, as they smiled at her near tardiness. The rest of the morning seemed to pass in a blur. She took her test, and felt as if she drew a blank on everything and didn't answer anything when time was called. Struggled her way through the rest of her classes, she collapsed at her familiar lunch table with Eri, Arimi, and Yuka with a groan.

The other three girls glanced at each other.

"So Kagome, how was your-" Eri began.

"Don't ask." Kagome replied.

A moment of silence filled there lunch table.

"Hey Kagome, I hear Houjou might ask you out for a date soon…" Arimi trailed off.

"Mmmmm" Kagome made some sort of sound that only indicated acknowledgement, not excitement or disgust.

Another moment of silence.

"Someone tried to still the Shikon Jewel last night." Yuka said.

"What!" The other three shrieked.

"I know!" Yuka replied. "It's all real hush-hush."

"So how do you know?"

"Did they actually get away with it?

Eri and Arimi both threw out the questions. Kagome remained silent, but she was a little alarmed. This news troubled her greatly.

"Of course they didn't get away with it! Didn't you hear me say 'tried'?" Yuka snapped back. "I know because I was up late studying and I could see all this commotion down the street at the building where the Jewel is kept. I think there were at least six priestesses there. And who knows! Maybe there were some of the demon slayers and holy monks there as well. But the priestesses put up some sort of barrier around the person who tried to steal it. So it must be a demon that tried, and he must have been really strong to need six priestesses to hold off one demon. Then they carted him off somewhere…where do they take their prisoners anyway?" Yuka ended her recount with the question, tapping at her chin with a finger.

Eri and Arimi continued to grill Yuka with questions, but Kagome sat there thinking quietly to herself as lunch conversations buzzed all around her, her chin was propped up by one hand with the elbow resting on the table. Anyone who would have looked at her at the moment would have seen her with an intense look of concentration and a faraway look in her eyes. Her friends were too busy conversing excitedly over this news to pay much attention to her.

"The Shikon Jewel…" Kagome thought. "There's been a lot of commotion among the most powerful of demons lately; could this have anything to do with it? Not to mention that the news has shone that not only have the priestesses, but also the demon slayers have been busier than usual lately. Even the normal police force had a lot more action with humans acting up, getting mixed in with deadly youkai affairs."

Kagome also remembered the slightly disturbing news that the integrated human, youkai political system was facing serious problems, more than it should for its five hundred year history.

Then there was the talk of Naraku. He was a well known demon with a dark past and too much power in the business world, and if rumors were true, the political world as well. It was said that his power and influence were starting to match with some of the most powerful and influential youkai families such as the Inu Youkai, the dog demons.

If what Yuka said was true, then this would be the fifth time someone tried to steal the Shikon Jewel in the past year. And that was just the known attempts. Kagome didn't understand what it was about the Jewel. Sure it was pretty and very valuable. Rumor was that it had been around for more than a thousand years and used to symbolize something of great purity, but why were so many people trying to get it?

With her thoughts on the Shikon Jewel, Kagome got that weird feeling again from when she first woke up. She closed her eyes, hoping it would pass, but it remained. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was unsettling. She abruptly stood up, her chair scraping against the ground. Eri, Arimi, and Yuka all looked up startled, by her sudden movement.

"Excuse me, you guys. I have to go to the bathroom." Kagome said, making up the lie easily. She fled the lunch room, not waiting for her friends' response.

* * *

"Miroku!"

Miroku slowly sat up; he recognized that voice and felt no need to rush. The knocking on his well-furnished hotel room door continued as the being on the other side continued to knock and offer apologies for disturbing him.

One wouldn't think that a monk would or could afford to stay in a hotel such as the one he was in. However, Miroku was a different sort of monk, and when explaining to the manager that he just had to stop because on his way by, he "sensed" the original blessings on this building fading his. And of course it would be no problem for him to go through the hotel and bless it, while making sure there were no curses or unwanted demons. And the manager of course insisted that Miroku should stay at his hotel as long as needed, free of charge. What else was there to do but accept such a generous offer, even when performing such "duties" were what monks were suppose to do in the first place.

Miroku roused himself, clad only in a pair of boxers and a cloth wrapped in rosary beads on one hand; and decided he had let the creature outside suffer for long enough.

"Good morning Hachie!" Miroku said brightly to the raccoon demon as he opened the door.

"Miroku, thank you! You are needed at once!" The flustered little raccoon demon said as he bounced from one foot to another in the brightly lit hallway.

Miroku looked bemused. "By whom? I only just arrived here last night, how could anyone know I'm here?"

"The priestesses sir!" Hachiemon squeaked

A knowing look crossed in front of his face. "Now why would they need me?"

"Someone…someone tried to steal the Shikon Jewel!" Hachiemon stuttered out. "They of course knew you were in town and decided to consult you on matters concerning the thief because your powers as a monk are well known, even to the priestesses."

Miroku sighed; he ruffled his dark hair with his one good hand and turned around. "Give me a moment to get dressed; I'll meet you in the lobby."

He could practically see Hachiemon bowing and closing the door behind him in his mind's eye. He knew the raccoon demon said some parting words, but they were lost on Miroku as he thought on other matters.

He had thought to say no, screw the priestesses, and go back to bed. He had been up late last night, up to his usual activities involving alcohol and women. In truth he was probably the worst behaved monk in history, but his religious powers were unrivaled, and he knew that was the only thing that kept him at the monastery in his youth and off the streets.

Miroku's thoughts turned to something else as he looked at his rosary covered hand and a troubled look crossed his face. "This smells of you Naraku. Could I finally be lucky enough to meet you? But of course you would never be so careless as to do something such as this yourself. Even if it isn't you…hopefully I can at least get some answers from whatever lackey you sent. One day Naraku…one day."

Miroku dressed in his more ceremonial monk robes for this outing to the priestesses' temple. He also opted to carry his staff; his sign of office will him as well. Unbeknownst to most, his staff, Shakujou, carried quite a few more holy powers than a normal monks staff. He used this to his utmost advantage in most situations.

Just the other day he had exorcised a demon that had been quite surprised at the power he held. It was through this that he learned more of Naraku and his shadowed movements behind his business, power, and respect, and also of the ever increasing power and respect he held among even the strongest of demons.

What Miroku did know was that Naraku was scheming something, something that most of the everyday humans in the world and some of the demons would know nothing of until too late. He just didn't know what it was. What Miroku also knew, was that if he could stop Naraku and defeat him, he would be rid of his curse.

He clenched his rosary covered hand, grabbed some extra ofuda just in case and sat off down to the lobby to meet Hachiemon.

* * *

Sango sprinted across the roof tops, dodging air conditioners, potted plants, and benches that people used to decorated their roof tops, along with a few clothes' lines; jumping to the next roof each time one ended. Her query was just ahead, a lizard demon, and a nasty creature at that. She heard a couple of shouts of encouragement from the streets below as people stopped in their daily activities to watch a demon exterminator at work, but she ignored them and focused on her task at hand.

She dressed in her customized exterminator's uniform. Black pants that flared at the knee hiding two youkai bone knives whose hilts jutted out from the top of her black boots. She wore a black, form-fitting tank top. The pants and tank top were made from a very durable material that nearly refused to tear and added extra protection from any number of demons as well. Her hands and wrists were donned with black fingerless gloves, and were additionally wrapped with a pink cloth like material that extended from her wrist to elbow and tied in a tight knot at the end. That same material was wrapped low around her hips, holding a short katana, and on her other hip a black studded belt, clinched beneath the pink material, held a handgun, which she generally did not care to use. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, with a few strands hanging across her face. Hanging gracefully from her neck, on a metal chain was her symbol of occupation, a pendant that identified her as a demon exterminator.

Despite the cool morning, Sango was sweating slightly from her exertions. After being dispatched to deal with the lizard demon, she had encountered the trouble-making demon on a street corner a few blocks from where her original coordinators had marked the presence of the fugitive demon. It was harassing some humans and lesser demons, and had already killed one or two. The street would normally have been quite busy, people milling about, shopping, going to work, out for breakfast at the numerous shops and stores that lined the popular street, but most had fled, and those who hadn't were either hiding in nearby stores, or being harassed by the demon. Taking lawful action, Sango had approached to tell it to either surrender for trial and judgment or die. The lizard demon had sneered at her, obviously only taking her in as a young human female, despite the large firecat demon beside her. A fight had ensued with a few other demons, followers of the lizard demon most likely, jumping in and the lizard demon scurrying up the nearest building and running off.

Leaving her Hiraikotsu, knowing it would only get in the way in such a chase, Sango had left Kirara to deal with the other demons, and followed the lizard demon by running into an alley between two buildings. Using her athleticism, and the nearness of the two buildings, she had jumped between the two. Pushing off from one wall and then from the next, reaching a little higher with each jump, springing from one wall to another, she made it to the top and began her roof top chase after the demon.

Sango gritted her teeth as she reached the end of one building and made the jump to the next, barely clearing the gap as she extended her arms to grab on to the ledge. Hanging briefly she scrambled up and vaulted over the ledge and continued sprinting across the rooftop.

She let out a groan of frustration when she saw the next building and the lizard demon climbing up its many stories. Despite the fact that she clearly could not make the jump due to the next building being at least ten stories taller then the one she was presently on, Sango did not slow down.

"Here goes nothing…" Sango thought, as she leapt from the building, drawing her katana in the process. Using the sword she shattered the glass, and landed on the third floor of the office building. Doing a neat forward roll, she sprung to her feet immediately, ignoring the shocked looks of the office workers. She yelled for the stairs, and received an answer that pointed a short distance to the left.

She ran toward the stairs and only hoped that by the time she got up to the top the demon would still be there, thinking that the human girl would not think or be able to follow. She burst through the door that led to roof and was met by a screech of outrage from the demon.

Her legs burned at this point, but her adrenaline was pumping and she heard the distant roar of Kirara letting her know that she was coming. She grinned at the demon and gripped her katana even more tightly.

"I'll give you one last chance…surrender and go in peace and face justice, or face me and die." Sango gave her warning.

The demon laughed. "This is all the youkai taijiya can send now, a young girl? I think I'll take my chances and let you die."

"Fine." And without warning, Sango charged at her opponent, despite holding only one of her less skillful weapons. A flurry of motion followed, and at first Sango had the upper hand. But then the demon unleashed some sort of acidic breath, and to dodge it, Sango had flipped around so that her back was right up against the ledge.

The demon laughed, obviously pleased with itself, and charged at her with its full weight. Sango had no chance to move, and with a look to see Kilala approaching ever closer, she took the hit. She reacted immediately by slashing at the demon with her sword. It dodged the hit by moving to the right, but that was just what she wanted. Using the demon's momentum from charging at her and dodging right, she clenched her free hand around the lizard's scaly wrist in a death grip and let her weight help bring the demon toppling down with her.

The demon growled, obviously surprised, but in turn grabbed her sword hand and forced her to drop the weapon with the pressure put upon it. She heard the shrieks below as people spotted them falling, and knew with roughly only fifteen stories she would not have much time to act. Her hair was whipping by her, and the demon let go of her hand. However, he was falling nearly on top of her, and she would land on the bottom with no hope for her if she did nothing soon. She could hear Kirara roaring behind her as the firecat came rushing toward them, and with that knowledge, she acted fast.

Bypassing the gun at her hip, Sango reached for the two youkai bone daggers in her boots. She was almost afraid that her pants would get in the way but she managed to draw both out quickly. She stabbed the surprised demon in the shoulder, and using that little bit of leverage in midair and heavier weight of the lizard, she managed to roll around on top of the demon. Using her second dagger, sticking it in the gut of the lizard, she used it to push her self up, buying her a precious second and send the lizard plummeting even faster to the earth.

The lizard hit the ground with a thud, and just when Sango thought it was too late for her Kirara came swooping in beneath her.

Sango sighed as she thudded into the soft fur of Kirara's back, feeling the firecat absorb her weight, by dropping a little bit more and flying to one side, before finally touching the ground.

The people in the streets had all moved to the side, wary of the groaning lizard demon, writhing on the street. It was dying; the deep pool of youkai blood the sounds made it obvious. Sango got off Kirara with shaky legs and walked over to the demon, drawing her handgun. She stood above the demon, calmly aimed and fired the mercy shot at the youkai's head.

* * *

A/N: So that's it for the first chapter. Many things will be answered in the second chapter, such as: If Kikyou isn't involved, why exactly was Inuyasha was trying to steal the Shikon Jewel? How do demons and humans (and half-demons) interact together in the modern world? How do the priestesses and monks function in the modern world full of demons, specifically one certain monk…who shall remain nameless, but I'm pretty sure ya'll can figure it out…? Same goes for the demon exterminators…

More things to come as well. Miroku and Inuyasha will meet. Kagome continues to feel weird, for the lack of a better word. And Sango begins the exterminator job with the rest of the exterminators that will change everything about her world. And Shippou might possibly enter the story!

I hope there weren't too many mistakes, spelling/grammar errors, etc...

Reviews are greatly appreciated. They keep me motivated and writing faster, not to mention keep myself interested in my own story!

Till next chapter I wish upon all of you pink shoelaces and plenty of Inuyasha to satisfy everyone's needs.


	2. Of Meetings and Weird Feelings

Not a lot of exciting stuff happens in this chapter. My world for this story has to be sculpted and shaped so lots information. But please be patient!

And a couple of notes for this chapter. The cleansing, which you'll hear about, is something I totally made up to get Miroku to meet Inuyasha. I have no idea of monks would really have that power, or if priestesses either. Please bare this in mind when you're like "what the hell" when you scroll down to read. I also took liberties on the priestesses in my world and what it means to be one.

Also, let me know if me changing between English and Japanese words for stuff gets annoying and I'll just pick a language and stick with it.

_Reviewer Responses_

**Sidhe3141**: I know what you mean, but I figured I would give Miroku it just in the beginning of the story. He reminds me so much of one of my friends, a pervert and kind of a bad-boy, but really is good when it comes down to it. So anyway, I'm kind of basing this early Miroku after one of my friends until we dig into the story…like in this chapter really.

**Reality**: Shippou is in the story, however the roll he plays is not as important, but he will be there. He's going to be the foil for the group and get in some comic relief. I know what you mean about Kikyou. The story of Inuyasha wouldn't be the same without her, whether if you like her or not. However, putting Kikyou into my story would take the story to an angle and a whole other plot I don't want to go into. I also decided to put a little more emphasis of Miroku and Sango, which truthfully I didn't decide until typing up this chapter. So thus I decided to leave her out of it…but wait…don't stop reading on me yet. There will still be a lot of problems and angst with the IK relationship!

**Sangonesan**: I see what you mean with Shippou. Really I do. However, he does come into play in this fic. You might be happy to note that he doesn't play all that important of a role. In fact, part of the reason I decided to put him in there was to get Kagome from point A (by herself) to point B (with I, M, and S). Shippou really is not one of my favorite characters, but I need him here for comic relief. He is not incredibly important to the plot as of right now (unless if something changes) so don't worry.

**Shields**: Thanks for the review, it's much appreciated. And I hope you keep reading!

I don't own Inuyasha…blah blah blah…I think two disclaimers should work for the whole story…maybe.

**Shards**

Chapter 2

Miroku arrived at the priestesses' temple around midmorning. He was dressed in his ceremonial monk's robes, black and purple in color for him. They hung loosely off of his broad shoulders, allowing him to move easily. His thick black hair fell messily in front of his eyes, and some of it was pulled back tightly at the nape of his neck. He carried his staff with ease, and ofuda rested inside of his robes.

As of now he was being escorted along the brightly lit hallways of the temple by one of the elder priestesses, one that held much respect and power in the temple and also one that was a good deal older than those he had originally met at the entrance.

He had caused quite a ruckus, and had a few new bruises from asking every single young priestess in the room if they would bare his child. "Really," Miroku reflected, "What's so wrong with that? All they have to do is say no. Ah, women these days…"

So the priestesses had quickly organized, and sent an elder priestess out to meet him. For whatever reason they seemed to have no idea what a monk was doing in their temple, as if they don't remember sending for him. Miroku was quite curious about this. In truth there was higher honor toward him for his choice escort so he could not complain.

The priestess, a short woman, just skin and bones, with a head of thick gray hair and sharp features, had explained what they wanted him to do as they walked through the enormous temple.

"You want me to seal his power? To cleanse him?"

"Yes, and I know it may take some time to complete this, possibly the rest of the day, but this is the only way we deal with the demons that try to still the Jewel. We can't risk a second attempt."

"What you ask of me…I can do. But you realize what kind of torment this brings the youkai? Any power, big or small, that the demon ever held is sucked out of him. They are hardly the same after that…"

"We know this. As there have been attempts in the past…ah…" The priestess trailed off and nodded to a courtyard they had just approached. It was brightly lit from the morning sun, but was still damp from the rain the night before. Numerous trees and flowers decorated the stone courtyard. A stream ran through the middle of it, emptying into a small pond. A foot path wound its way through, with numerous benches lining it. But it wasn't for this quiet beauty that the priestess had trailed off.

"Demons." Miroku said abruptly. "I take it this is the result from the cleansing."

The priestess nodded and halted with Miroku for a moment to observe the youkai in the courtyard.

There were perhaps a dozen demons present in the courtyard. They were of all types, a few whose appearance was human, a wasp demon, a water demon, and many more. They were scattered throughout. Some were walking quietly, others were sitting on the park benches talking, and still others lingered around the pond, and for all intents and purposes enjoying the morning. However, there was a quietness to them, and something a little unsettling. There were other priestesses in the courtyard, interacting with the demons and taking notes; obviously studying the behavior of the "cleansed" youkai.

"I must know, Houshi-sama, will you do what we ask?

"Yes…they were thieves, and I suppose this is a proper punishment…"

"I trust you have everything you need to carry out the ritual?"

"Yes, of course, but like you said it will take time, and I would prefer not to be disturbed while in the process."

With that they began walking again, the priestess leading him through numerous other hallways. For the most part the temple was a bright place. There were so many priestesses in residence, and they added color and filling to the temple. Most priestesses were normal, and acted like everyday women and girls, for nearly all were there only because of the purifying powers they had been gifted with.

When on duty they all had a similar uniform, red baggy cotton pants, and a white tunic top. The uniform almost swallowed the priestess with him. When not on duty, they were free to wear whatever they chose.

It was not uncommon to find a man strolling along the hallways or courtyards with a priestess on his arm. And neither was it uncommon to find children, with no obvious purifying powers playing in the temple. Many priestesses took up residence here with their families, and were granted spacious living apartments. They were free to move around as pleased, except if they had duties to perform or work to do within the temple. The younger ones might have classes, the older ones training.

Being a priestess was not a bad life. In fact, it was quite good. They would be taken care of by the state their whole life. Not to mention it was somewhat an honor to be a priestess.

This particular temple was the largest in the country. The building itself was huge when all of its offices, dorms and apartments, courtyards, and numerous other rooms and sections were all accounted for. It was located outside of the city, due to its enormity. There were numerous other temples across the country, ranging in size, but this was eldest and most established of all of them.

Miroku reflected on this as the priestess led him through the maze of brightly lit hallways and rooms by wall sconces. Paintings and décor were located here or there, and the building itself was unusually clean. He was interrupted from his thoughts by the priestess.

"You do understand that we would greatly appreciate your silence in this matter. No more than a dozen outside of those present at the attempted theft know what happened last night concerning the Shikon Jewel. The guards that were placed on the Jewel are some of the best and know how to keep silent. You do understand that the general public is not to know of this?"

"Yes, but won't people question when a random youkai is added to that number we saw earlier?" Miroku questioned, obviously curious.

"Oh, did no one tell you? The youkai…the demon is actually a hanyou." The priestess replied at first ignoring the question.

Miroku only blinked at this news and he waited for her to continue.

"And as to his added presence, the simplest explanation is usually the most believable. My colleagues well come up with something or we could just say that he was in some sort of accident…there is always something. Nobody will really bother to question that closely. Half of the demons you saw earlier also have fabricated stories, when in reality they tried to steal the Shikon Jewel."

Miroku nodded, the explanation made sense, but there was one thing that he was still curious about. "Why all the secrecy?"

"Can you imagine how the general public would react to all these manner of youkai trying to get the legendary Shikon Jewel. People will start to wonder. Then they start to question if all those old legends are true. I think you know what legends I speak of. I only wish we knew if they were true, only the demon exterminators know the real truth." She said wishfully. "Anyway, I wouldn't want to imagine the various reactions some of the people. It is just better if no one knows."

It made sense to Miroku, but not that he liked the idea that much. He figured that besides some top government officials, the monks that had performed the earlier cleansings, and the few dozen priestesses, no one else would know. What if something else was going on here that the few who did know what really was happening could not see? A dozen demons tried to get the Shikon Jewel this year; something about this was very suspicious.

"This is it." The priestess said, approaching an inconspicuous door that two other priestesses were standing in front of. Besides himself and his escort and the two priestesses, obviously acting as guards, there were no others in the long stretch of hallway.

Miroku subconsciously gripped his staff tighter. The door, for all intents in purposes looked normal, not some place one would hold a highly dangerous hanyou.

"As you know, we'll have to take off the barrier we have placed upon him for you to cleanse the hanyou. I do hope you know how to defend yourself. And don't worry; this room actually has extra reinforcements to help prevent escape, even if for all intents and purposes it looks the same as any other. There is some spells and charms on this room that should hold back at least some of the demon's power. However, it took six of us to cast the barrier originally, so once we take it off, I don't know how much good it will do. We will be out here if anything should go wrong."

Miroku nodded, but he took a moment to look at the two priestesses. "Why hello there!" He said brightly, rushing to both, grabbing one hand with each of his own. He was on his knees and had kissed both their hands before they could blink.

"Would one of you ladies be as kind as you are beautiful and bare my child?"

The elder priestess put her hand up to her face and sighed into it, the two priestesses he had asked blushed deeply.

"Uh…e-excuse me?" One stuttered out.

"What did you say?" The other said sharply.

He simpered, "Never mind."

"If you are finished monk, let's begin." The elder priestess interrupted.

"Of course, of course." Miroku stood up, smoothing his robes, and picking up his staff. "Remember, as soon as you remove the barrier around him - I suppose it's through one of your arrows, yes? - leave, and do not bother me. I need all of my concentration for this to work and to hold back the hanyou in the process." He added in a severe, cryptic voice. In truth, he had ulterior motives. He wanted to question this hanyou on anything he knew about Naraku. He subconsciously clenched his cursed hand as he thought of this. Then he motioned the priestesses to go ahead.

The elder priestess opened the door and he filed in behind her, feeling the presence of the two other priestesses behind him.

The room was bare and white: white walls, white ceiling, and white tile floor. There were no windows, and the room was lit by one glaring overhead light…white of course. The only thing of color was the unconscious hanyou lying on the floor, dressed in black with silvery hair and dog ears.

Silvery hair and dog ears…Miroku's eyes widen. "Do you realize who this is?" He demanded suddenly.

The three priestesses exchanged glances. "We know –" The elder priestess began slowly.

"The bastard brother of one of the most powerful dog demons in our county! If Sesshomaru ever found out that we did this…" Miroku began. He wasn't backing down or afraid, his life was already on the line, but these women…these priestesses needed to know what they were dealing with.

"There is no great love between the two half-brothers. In fact, Sesshomaru might even be glad we did this!" The elder priestess replied.

"With all due respect, but do you know nothing of youkai? This hanyou…Inuyasha's his name isn't it? Inuyasha is only for Sesshomaru to take down or kill!"

The two younger priestesses exchanged worried looks at this news, but the elder held her ground. "Even if what you say is true, we still have no choice but to carry out our task. It is our duty." She said calmly, putting great emphasis on the last sentence. "Are you still prepared to do yours?"

'Yes, I just wanted to…ah, never mind." Miroku replied. Really, he tried to be chivalrous, but these modern women never needed saving.

"Good, we are going to remove the arrow now." The priestess began saying. "As soon as it's removed, the barrier will be gone and his healing powers will return. You might be able to get the first part of the cleansing down before he is even awakened, and that is always the hardest part, from what I understand."

Miroku nodded his understanding, and got him self into a meditative stance, ready to begin as soon as the priestesses had removed the arrow.

It only took a moment, the arrow disintegrated once it was removed. "It's done." The elder priestess announced, wiping her hands on her clothes. "Good luck Houshi-sama." She whispered as she closed the door behind her, the last one to exit.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Miroku was on his feet. Before doing any of the cleansing he had some questions he wanted answered concerning Naraku. And he was prepared to get them.

* * *

"Hey Sango!" 

"Sango! Great job out there! You too Kirara!"

Sango sighed, "Looks like the news has already gotten a hold of the story Kirara."

Other numerous greetings met her ears as Sango landed inside of the demon exterminator's encampment on Kirara. In truth it was more like a village and it was fully supported by the government, but it was her home and she thought of it what she liked.

It was lunch time, and Sango was quite hungry. It had taken her the rest of the morning after her daredevil freefall to clean up; in other words, to deal with the authorities and go through the proper procedures, not to mention collecting her Hiraikotsu, which she had left behind before chasing after the lizard demon. And that didn't even go into the public's interest. For whatever reason, the people who she and all the other exterminators were suppose to protect could not seem to get enough of them. Sango knew that their life, the life of a youkai tajiya was somewhat of a novelty to the general public, something like a movie. And while they did have their privacy, whenever a stunt like she pulled today was seen, it tended to get all over the news…and it appeared hers had already made the cut from the greetings of her fellow exterminators.

Sango smiled as Kirara transformed into her small kitten form, and she put down an arm so Kirara could climb up onto her shoulder. She nodded and smiled to those who had come over to greet her and then made her way to debrief the leader of the exterminations, her father.

She enjoyed being home, among friends and family. There were perhaps seventy-five demon exterminators, fifteen in-training, and all of their families living in their town. Each family had their own house designed to their own preference, a small house to be sure…this was government funded, but comfortable nevertheless. Her own house was a bit larger due to her father's position. The village also consisted of large training grounds and a gym, a small temple…two priestesses in residence, the meeting hall, the village headquarters and offices, a large pavilion, an activity building, a large pool, store rooms, not to mention the helicopter used to get places quickly and at least one car per every family. The whole village was surrounded by large walls and had only two gates. Despite being walled in, the grounds were quite spacious. There was plenty of room to run and train, and gardens kept by some of the family members who were neither demon exterminators nor held jobs outside of the village. They were actually located on the outskirts of the city, giving them plenty of space.

Due to the number of people out among the grounds; it was not hard to tell that it was lunch break for those doing daily training sessions. She wished she could go ahead and join them for lunch, but she knew her duties and debriefing came first. She sighed wistfully and made her way to the village headquarters where she knew her father would be.

Sango walked down the one lane cobblestone path that passed as roads in the village with Kirara, passing the pavilion where many were taking advantage of the cool, sunny day and eating their lunch outside. Trees lined the main road that stretched from the gated entrance to the headquarters and office building, giving shade that made the already cool day cooler. She passed numerous houses, some of the training grounds, and a few other buildings before reaching the headquarters.

A car, an expensive European model, was parked along the front cobblestone road that widened at the building into an impressive semicircle lined with more trees leading to a small walk to the front doors. A driver leaned against one of the car doors smoking a cigarette.

Sango acknowledged him with a nod and he returned a cool one in return, seeming far more interested in his cigarette than her. She continued her way up to the building, the driver already out of her mind.

It was not uncommon to see such a site at the exterminator's village. Oftentimes serious investors came to arrange their services in person. While the taijiya were government funded for public incidents, this morning activities for example, and could almost be compared to a specialized police force, they did take private jobs. People who were having trouble with some demon or another (and it had to be serious trouble; demon exterminators did not go around killing peaceful and respectable demons who had committed no grievous sins) would often come to ask for their services and offer generous sums of money. It was then up to the chief whether to take the job or not, generally they accepted, except if the client's reasons for the extermination did not line up.

The headquarters and office building was a red brick building with numerous windows and a large mahogany front door, which Sango opened and stepped inside. A dark cherry wood desk greeted her as she entered. The secretary, the wife of one of the exterminators who worked the desk regularly, greeted her.

"Just a minute Sango, as you probably saw from out front, your father has a possible client." She said crisply and then got back to work.

Sango declined to sit down on the pristine white couches, all too aware of the fact that she had both youkai and her own blood on her clothes. Kirara, who was clean, decided to curl up on the top of an overstuffed white armchair and proceeded to take a nap. The front room was rather large, and there were two groups of couches and armchairs; one of these centered around a coffee table, the other around a large television set. They never had enough people in there at once to fill up the seating, so Sango often wondered why they bothered to have so many seating options. Not to mention they were all white, and got dirty so easily, so they were barely ever sat upon.

The decoration was warm, a deep red wall color along with the dark cherry wood wall columns and tables. Sunlight filtered in from the windows, the entrance room was two-storied, high ceilings creating the feeling of space. Sango's father's office was at the end of this room, opposite from the entrance; to either side were opened archways that led down to offices and other secret operation rooms. The operation rooms were similar to what other special force units might have. The best technology offered in tracking and communications as well as some of the best search database computers available.

Sango stood rather uncomfortably. She had left her Hiraikotsu by the door, but had left her other weapons on, hoping that her debriefing with her father wouldn't take too long. She was ready to get cleaned up and eat, but that would have to wait. She focused her sights on the television wanting a quick diversion and hoping her father would not be too much longer.

She groaned as she realized the midday news was on and was replaying her daredevil dive. She winced as she watched herself fall in slow motion…it looked a whole lot worse on television then it did when she actually took the fall. And then of course they had to put a profile picture up on screen.

"Great, now that's of course _not_ going to attract attention." Sango groaned. It really wasn't that big of a deal, but Sango really enjoyed her privacy and to see herself plastered across the television…again, annoyed her to know end. Not to mention some of the lesser demons who held grudges against exterminators might remember her face. Most demons, most of them actually liked having the exterminators, simply because they cleaned up the messes and the demons would not have too.

Finally they moved on to another story, something about the youkai and human troubles in the political system, but Sango paid no attention to it as her father's office door opened.

She made her way to the door, passing the possible client in the process. He was wearing a "no nonsense" business suit and rather shiny black shoes. Sango glanced at him as he passed only to find him looking at her. This took her back rather abruptly. And time seemed to pause as they both interlocked gazes. He was middle-aged and was obviously wealthy, and appeared normal enough. But then he grinned. It was rather malicious, and made Sango quite uncomfortable. And the look in his eye was something else all together. For a moment, Sango swore she saw something behind that face, something unsettling and different from what she first saw. But when she blinked it was gone and he was on past her, his shoes clicking softly on the hardwood floors.

Sango swallowed and walked on, feeling rather unsteady.

"Ah Sango! Everything go smoothly today?" Her father asked, sitting behind his desk in his large and nicely furnished office. He was a large man, tall and nicely built from years of working as a demon exterminator. Despite his middle age, he had yet to lose that muscle. He had black hair with some gray from the years of stress as the exterminator's leader. He was dressed in his office uniform, one he wore to meetings with clients and public appearances. He wore black pants, made out of the same material as the field uniforms, a dark green button-up shirt with the shirttails out, and then a black jacket, made from the field material with the exterminator's signal on the breast.

He was a widower, and that fact would be seen in the hollowness of his eyes in certain moments. However, his children, Sango and Kohaku gave him new life and that hollowness would always disappear when one of them were ever seen or mentioned.

He worried often. Sango was out in the field with Kirara now. Truthfully, he did not want her there. However, despite her age and sex she was probably the best exterminator they had. He did not know if she loved what she did, and he had asked her at one point. Sango had replied, "I don't know. But I do know that for whatever reason, I was gifted with the skills for it, and my duty calls me to be an exterminator." He had let the subject drop then, and never asked her about giving up the life as an exterminator again. He wanted her to attend high school with the rest of the teenagers her age; she would be a senior, enjoying her last year in high school…but that life wasn't hers. And then there was Kohaku. He was ready; the father knew, ready to start extermination work.

"Yes everything went well; the lizard demon has been taken care of." Sango replied recovered from her encounter with the client. She was a little bit relieved her father did not know about her fall, he would definitely disapprove.

"No civilian casualties?" He asked. He took in the messy sight of her. "And you, are you okay?" He asked softly

"I'm fine. One casualty, and a few injuries." Sango swallowed at this. With everything that happened, she had yet to reflect on this…if only she could have been there sooner. Her downcast eyes were noticed by her father.

"None of that!" He said, sharply. "You did want you could and you accomplished the mission."

"Yes sir."

He smiled, changing the subject as he organized a stack of papers. "As you noticed I just had a client. We have a job tonight." He said, changing the subject.

"We?"

"Yes, in fact the majority of us. I plan to take fifty of us tonight. It's a big extermination. But don't worry about that now; you'll hear the plans later. And wait, I have other news."

Sango noticed the shift in his voice; it became harder at those last words. She waited patiently for him to speak, but dreaded what it might mean all the same.

"Earlier today, a few hours ago, Shou reported back in from a relatively simple extermination." Her father hung the words there.

"I'm sensing a 'however.'" Sango added

"Yes, Shou came back with some very…interesting…news." He chose his words carefully, and Sango waited, looking for something in her father's face, but his stony expression gave away nothing. "He met a priestess after finishing his extermination. She came to him, asking to speak with him. This wasn't just any priestess either, but one of the elders. They shared some information with him to pass along to me in complete confidentiality. The priestesses acted rightly to contact me through another exterminator, as you know, for me to meet with any of the elders would garner instant attention. But the news was this…and listen carefully Sango, what I say is not to leave this room." He said in all seriousness.

Sango nodded her acquiescence. "I understand."

"The Shikon Jewel has disappeared."

She drew in a breath sharply. "What? How?"

"That is what we are all wondering. A hanyou tried to steal the Jewel last night and almost succeeded. However he was stopped by the priestesses, but something strange happened. As they moved to take the Jewel back, it just disappeared."

"How is that possible? There must be some higher power at work here."

"I tend to agree. Due to the circumstances the priestesses want to access our records of the history of the Jewel. As you know, we are the only people to know the history of it. And not all of us even know it. Whether if it's greed from the priestesses at this chance to examine the history, or if something from the records may actually help I don't know. They also offer the invitation to work together to find the Jewel. I may take them up on that offer, however it is my duty as leader to let none outside of us know the history of the Jewel."

During her father's talk, Sango glanced at an innocent looking painting of lilies alongside one wall of her father's office. Behind that painting lay a safe that was locked by a digital and manual code. The safe also had a fingerprint and retina scanner to further up the security. Inside that safe lay the documents, and copies of documents of the history of the Shikon Jewel. Some of the records were over a thousand years old.

"I tell you this not because you are my daughter, but because you are one of the best exterminators and thus it is my duty to inform you of this incase action has to be taken. You know not to speak of this to anyone. Put it out of your mind."

"Yes sir." She worked to clear her face of her troubled expression, and took her father's advice to not dwell on the subject.

"Sango, go get cleaned up. You look horrible." Her father said with a slight grin to take the sting out of his words.

"Oh thanks." She replied dryly and turned to go at his dismissal, but as she reached the door her father called her back. "Sango, I want you to tell Kohaku that he's coming tonight."

She smiled. "He's ready?"

"He's ready." Her father confirmed.

Sango smiled and left her father's office. She picked up the still dozing Kirara who gave a little mew at the movement, cradling her in one arm, and held Hiraikotsu across the shoulder on her other side.

She left the headquarters building, making the short walk just east of the building to her home. Another cobblestone road led off from the main one toward her house which was near to the training grounds. She could see her fellow exterminators making their way back to the training grounds following their lunches. Do to her work this morning, she was done for the day, but she figured that she would probably visit the gym or pool later today.

"Sango! Hey Sango! You're back!" Kohaku's voiced hailed her from a distance, interrupting her thoughts.

"Kohaku! How were your morning exercises?" Sango asked as her younger brother approached, leaving his friends and fellow trainees as they headed back to the training grounds.

Kirara mewed and jumped from Sango's arms to Kohaku's, who laughed. His smile was infectious and Sango found herself smiling in return. He was lean and of average height, his dark hair was shaggy and unkempt, bangs falling across his eyes. Freckles dotted across his nose, and his eyes were full of mirth of a boy with no worries. He was wearing the common uniform of the trainees, black pants and T-shirt with the exterminator's signal on the back.

"Oh they were fine, same old same old."

"I got some news." Sango said with a glance at him as they continued to walk toward their home. "But wait, shouldn't you be getting back to your training?"

"Nope, we don't start for another…" He paused as he pulled out a wristwatch out of his pocket, "twenty minutes."

"Lucky you…so…I went to give my report to father. There was a client there." Sango began slowly.

"Yeah…" Kohaku said, obviously wanting her to hurry up and continue.

Sango rolled her eyes. "It's going to be a big job, more than half of us are going. And you're going too."

"I am?" Kohaku said rather hesitantly.

"Yep!" She smiled.

"Oh…"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Well it's just that…" Kohaku halted, both in speech and movement. Sango stopped with him, appearing puzzled.

"Do you think I really am ready? I'm scared…what if I mess up…what if I am not good?" He finished.

"It's fine if you mess up. Everybody does, and it's your first extermination! It's fine to be scared. Besides, from what I've seen, you got enough skill for me to be scared." She replied, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"That's not true!" Kohaku said vehemently. "I…I have a lot to live up too." He finished with a helpless shrug.

Sango pretended not to hear the last bit. "Listen. Go out there, do your afternoon exercises with your friends, have a good time, and don't think about this. Remember, you are not the only one there. Over half of us exterminators will be there, and if anything goes wrong, I'll have your back."

It was those last words that reassured him the most. "Okay." He said rather reluctantly, but gave his consent nevertheless.

Sango smiled. "Hey, I'm proud of you." She hugged him, causing Kirara to jump out of his grip. Kohaku, being a twelve year-old boy, squirmed and fought to get out of her grip.

"Stop that! Who knows who could be watching!" He said as she let go.

Sango laughed and reached out a hand to ruffle his hair. Kohaku nearly growled, swatting her hand away. This caused Sango to laugh even more.

"If you're going to get all mushy and sisterly on me, then I'm leaving!" He announced, stomping away. But he turned around after a few feet to give her a grin.

"Oh by the way, we're supposed to analyze your performance today from the footage taken during your little chase scene."

Sango groaned. Why was it always her exterminations that ended up being used for the trainees to study?

Kohaku laughed, and started to make his way back toward the training grounds, leaving her alone with Kirara.

"Kohaku, wait!" Sango yelled to get his attention. "Father's proud too you know." She said simply. He only nodded, but there was less worry in his face at these words, and he appeared comfortable walking back to the training grounds.

Sango sighed and looked down at Kirara. "I hope everything goes okay tonight Kirara."

The little firecat only mewed in response.

* * *

A cool breeze picked up and Kagome shivered, wishing she had a jacket. She had heard the end of lunch bell ring just a little while ago, perhaps fifteen minutes, but she had yet to will herself to get up and make her way back to class. The feeling just would not leave her be. 

She sat on the ground, along the side of the building just out of sight from the streets and the school windows. No grass here of course, only concrete, the alleyway was not even part of school property.

Her only company was the sounds of the streets, cars and people and demons passing by. Part of her wanted to go back to class, wanted to go back to normal life. But the feeling held her there. The feeling was uncomfortable, but not unbearably so. It was like an itch that never went away.

She kept telling herself that she would get up. "Just another minute and I'll go back to class."

She let out a small shriek of frustration. "Forget it; I'll just go in at the next bell."

Kagome was startled out of her thoughts by a tiny patter of footsteps coming from the other end of the alleyway. She looked up curiously and down the alley toward the footsteps.

"What the…who would be down here?" She thought curiously. She stood up and leaned her torso to look down the alleyway. It wasn't all that dark down the alley; she should be able to see something. There were only a few trashcans and some doors, nothing to obstruct her view from whoever it may be.

She saw nothing, only the next street beyond. Bewildered, she turned the other way to check to see if she misheard. There was nobody there either.

The patter of footsteps only got louder. Kagome was not scared, only curious. Where was it coming from? Then she looked down.

She gave a squeak of excitement. "How cute!"

It was a little fox demon. He was very young, but was humanoid. He had a bushy tail, and quite a lot of golden brown fur. He had been running on four paws, but now that he had spotted Kagome he stood up on two feet. He had a very compact shape and gave the appearance of a ball of fluff. He had red longish-red hair, tied back to stay out of his way. He was wearing deep blue baggy pants, a matching lighter blue shirt-like tunic, and a light khaki colored jacket.

The young fox demon looked at Kagome curiously. He hesitated and then seemed to make up his mind about something. He bounded toward her and stopped at her feet. He took several deep breaths, while she just watched him, not really sure what to make of this development.

"Um…heh…" He said, still out of breath, and then blurted out, "Can you help me? Pleasepleaseplease!"

* * *

A/N: I had to stop it there, otherwise this chapter would have been about thirty pages with what I have planned next. 

I know this chapter wasn't particularly exciting…a lot of necessary information though. A lot of what was in this chapter was to make this world, the modern day one of humans and demons, a little bit more real. Stuff needed to be explained to setup the world.

On the brighter side, next chapter should be a lot more exciting. You'll get to see what transpires with Miroku and Inuyasha, what happens with Kagome and Shippou…the Shikon Jewel might just make an appearance…and my version of Sango's tragedy.

One other very important thing: Some of you may be wondering why these events are happening with the exterminators when they don't have any jewel fragments yet, so why would Naraku be trying to get them? You'll just have to wait and see…

And I think that about wraps it up. And yes, I would enjoy having more of what every author wants...I think you know of what I speak.

'Till next chapter then...pink shoelaces.


	3. Of Confrontations and Ugly Demons

I doubt anybody actually remembers this fanfiction…it's been like what…three…four months? I don't even know.

So I suppose I got some explaining to do…if anybody actually remembers this little fanfiction…

After starting this fic, I didn't think I would have nearly as much work as I did at the beginning of the school year. But with school work, and applying to colleges, other extracurricular activities, and just getting sidetracked, this fic just kept getting put off or I would write just a little bit at a time.

So here's the deal folks…I still have a lot on my plate, I hate issuing ultimatums…but alas…anyway…I can stop this fanfiction easily and never update it. Or if ya'll like it enough…let me know…I can find the time to work on it. E-mail me…leave a review…or don't do anything…it's up to you.

Anywayz…here's chapter three…after like three months…

I don't own Inuyasha.

**Shards**

Chapter 3

"What? What do you want me to do? I don't know if I can be much help…" Kagome said bending down in a crouching position, always slightly mindful of the short uniform skirt.

She couldn't help but be confused as well. This was a very odd occurrence. Sure she encountered demons everyday, but for a little, and most likely proud, fox demon to ask a human girl for help was just a little strange; most demons never paid any attention to her in the first place. It made this whole situation slightly suspicious; but the little youkai was so cute and she could not help but sympathize.

"There are these two demons after me! I slowed them down…but I know they're still coming! And no one else has helped me…and I know you can!" The fox demon said.

"Me! What can I do?" She asked quite surprised. She distantly heard the school bell go off. Would anyone notice her? Did she care at this point?

At her words and evident surprise, the fox demon looked quite shocked as well and a little…disheartened. "What do you mean? You're a priestess aren't you? I mean, I can definitely sense the purifying powers. It's strong enough that I could sense it without you demonstrating it."

"What are you talking about? I'm no priestess! Wait…two demons!"

"Yes! You're the one who can purify…do something!" His ears twitched and a moment of silence filled the alleyway. "They're coming!"

Before Kagome could react, she heard one of the classroom windows slam open behind her. She jumped, a little bit startled, and abruptly turned around.

"Kagome Higurashi! What are you doing? Get back inside this instant!" The teacher, who happened to be her strict second period history instructed, yelled, leaning outside the window. The faces of the class could be seen peering out from around the teacher, curious as to what the normally good-girl Kagome was doing outside skipping class.

"They're coming!" Kagome heard the little demon hiss as he pulled at her sock. She let herself take a glance down the alley from where the fox demon originally came from. Sure enough, two figures appeared, one floating, the other standing, not much could be seen about their appearances due to the distance and shadows from the building. She could tell though that they appeared very relaxed, and now that they spotted the fox demon, they seemed to be coming down the alley nonchalantly, obviously not in a rush, and letting the little fox demon advertently know that he was no threat to them. But even from the distance, Kagome could notice the swagger in their walk, a gait that showed the hunter had queried their prey.

"Miss Higurashi! Are you listening to me! Come inside now!"

Kagome winced and made a split second decision. Against all her better judgment, she bent down and picked up the little fox demon.

And without a glance back, despite the yelling, and how she knew there would be whispers from the class inside that would spread across the whole school by the next day, she sprinted toward the front of the school and away from the demons.

Later Kagome would remember that she felt somewhat compelled to take the fox demon and go, and that the feeling would not leave her alone, even after making a move with the fox demon.

But what she did know then was that she needed to go and go fast. It was a good thing that she had run late today. Bicycles went a lot faster in a crowded city, more so then many other transportation options.

* * *

He groaned, and could not help but wonder why all his senses felt blurred and dull. He could feel a dull pain around his shoulder that was growing even duller as he continued to regain his senses. His eyelids were heavy as well as the rest of his extremities.

Coherent thought finally returned to him. In truth all of this did not take more than a few seconds, but it was more than long enough for a hanyou.

Inuyasha could not keep himself from snarling as he recalled the last few invents he remembered. He had been so close…so very close. He had been holding it, the Shikon Jewel. He had been that close to the legendary power…if had not been for those priestesses. But wait, that was not right. The priestesses had stopped him, yes, but Naraku had said…Naraku!

Even as he thought this he felt pressure upon his body; something not of the priestesses, but strong nonetheless. He could break through; it would just take time, especially within his weakened state.

Inuyasha's sense of smell seemed to awaken all at once. He was suddenly aware of the human's presence near him; male, young, priestess smell on him, as well as that of a raccoon demon, ofuda…ofuda!

So that's what it was, the pressure upon him, keeping him weak to a point, and holding him down. So the young man was a monk. A strong monk it seemed, to be able to hold him. Ofuda were no problem for him to breakthrough, but this was different. This ofuda held him in place, and he could practically feel the monk's meditation state that provided more power into the ofuda.

Ah, there. Finally Inuyasha could open his eyes. Everything was blurred at first, but things slowly came into focus. A bare white room and the monk greeted his sight. The monk was infinitely more interesting then the white walls. A young man, just as he thought, with dark hair, and roguish features. He was wearing the ceremonial monk's robes, his were purple and black and in a very tradition style. What was most interesting was the staff the monk held, it didn't appear to be gilded, and the way the monk was channeling spiritual power into the staff and then into the ofuda was very different from how most monks operated. Very few had staffs, and of the ones Inuyasha knew, none of them appeared to be anywhere near as adept with it as this monk appeared.

And while Inuyasha could not help but take this in, he also could not stop the anger building inside. He had been humiliated and tricked. And that was unacceptable.

He let out a growl of anger just as the monk got up out of his meditative pose. The monk was done obviously. Now that he wasn't putting more power into the ofuda, it would just be a matter of time before Inuyasha could break out of it.

"Well, well…Inuyasha is it?" The monk said coolly.

"What does it matter to you?" Inuyasha snapped back.

"Actually, it doesn't." The monk remained calm. He approached Inuyasha, moving fluidly, calm, with a purpose. "What does matter is what you know. And that's why I'm here…tell me what you know of the demon Naraku." He said sharply, placing the end of his staff down near Inuyasha's head. It was obvious the monk was trying to shake his senses of dominance by standing over him, giving the monk the apparent position of power.

Inuyasha could not stop a smirk coming to his. "Naraku a demon? You are an idiot you damn monk. Naraku is a half-demon."

"What? But that means that…" The monk trailed off looking at his hand cloth covered hand for some reason. "No matter, all I need to know it appears is some of the knowledge you possess."

"What makes you think I'm going to help you?" He could feel the ofuda slowly loosing power…good. All he had to do was keep the monk busy for another minute. He could already move his legs and arms to some extent but kept them still to not draw the monk's attention.

"I'm the one with power here Inuyasha." The monk abruptly whacked him in the head with his staff.

"What did you do that for? Damn monk…" Inuyasha said, fighting the urge to reach a hand up to rub his head. "But is that the best you can do?" He challenged.

"No." The monk said shortly. That simple answer told Inuyasha what he wanted. There was something that the monk could do, but for whatever reason he wasn't going to. Inuyasha smirked. He was going to make the monk pay for that.

"Feh, whatever." Inuyasha feigned ignorance over the monk's answer. If only he could break lose…ah wait…there. He had to fight down a smile so as not to alert the monk who was obviously distracted if the ofuda's power fell this quick.

"Now do I have to ask again…" The monk crouched down, holding his staff out over Inuyasha. "Tell me what-agh!"

Inuyasha had sprung into action, moving rather sluggishly from the ofuda, he still managed to pin the surprised monk up against a wall. He held the monk by his robes with one hand, the monk's feet above the floor, one hand automatically clutching at the arm supporting him, the other still clenching his staff, and used the other hand to threaten the monk with his claws. There was a moment of surprise on the monk's face and then a grin.

"Get that damn grin off your face!" Inuyasha growled. "Now give me one reason not to kill you."

"All I have to do is yell, and three priestesses will come running in and send you back into unconsciousness." The monk smirked.

"I don't doubt you about the priestesses, but for whatever reason you're bluffing. You aren't going to call them. I can smell it." Inuyasha said, shifting the monk away from the wall and then slamming him back into.

The monk winced and then looked almost apolegtic. "Heh…have it your way."

Inuyasha only had a moment to contemplate how deranged the monk appeared with that expression in the situation he appeared. "Ow! Damn…ugh…" He gritted his teeth, the pain automatically making him drop the monk, who fell to the floor gracefully on his feet.

Inuyasha growled, flexing his hands, his claws still sharp on the end. "Damn you monk! That was cheap, if only I wasn't so weak from earlier! I'm going to enjoy making you pay!"

He received a solid whack in the head from the monk's staff at that comment. "It's not my fault you left your legs open and that I still held onto my staff. You're very careless." The monk replied and then pressed his attack.

The space in the room was very limited, and due to his weakened state, Inuyasha could not react to this attacking monk as he would to someone normally pressing his patience. Instead, he fell into a very defensive stance. Blocking the monk's swings with the staff and then trying to punch back in return. The monk was very fast however, and skillful. Inuyasha had yet to land a solid hit.

A few more glancing blows transpired. Inuyasha had to acknowledge the fact that despite his normal prowess in a fight, the monk had the upper hand. His staff gave him a longer reach, and the room was already small enough, and Inuyasha was still feeling quite weak from earlier. Despite all of this however, he felt that if he could land one solid hit on the monk, he could easily subdue him.

And there it was. The monk had over swung the staff, Inuyasha ducked under it easily, drawing back his fist, ready for the punch. He came up out of his duck, threw the punch at the monk's open right shoulder. The monk however anticipated this, and it quickly became obvious that the staff was over swung on purpose. The monk rolled his shoulder back so again the blow just glanced off. Inuyasha, had to step through with the punch because of the weight he put into it, and now he was open for an attack. He felt the monk's blow land on his back, making him stumble forward. And then Inuyasha felt rather than saw the monk moving back against the opposite wall. Curious as to why the monk was not pressing his attack with the obvious advantage, he turned around.

The monk stood with his heels firmly rooted to the floor. His right arm was extended straight out, rigid and tense. His hand faced up, palm showing. His left hand clenched the rosary wrapped around his right, ready to remove it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha demanded, bewildered, but still took a menacing step forward.

"I'm giving you a fair warning. Come any closer and you'll be sucked into oblivion. I just want some questions answered."

"You make no sense monk, I should kill you now." Inuyasha growled, flexing his claws.

"But you won't, because I'm not bluffing and you can sense it. Don't make me do this…but if I don't get my questions answered I make no promises about what my kazaana might do to you." The monk said quite calmly.

"A wind tunnel…How did you end up with something like that?" Inuyasha said, still a little unsure about this threat.

"Heh…that has to do with what I want to ask you." A slight smile came across the monk's face, but his stance was still as ready as ever. But then at his next words, his face turned dark, "First, tell me, you obviously know something of Naraku…"

"You're in league with him aren't you! Feh, I should have known, who else would send somebody here to kill me…" Inuyasha interrupted. "I should kill you now."

"Don't be hasty." The monk spat out. "I would never be in league with him. He gave me this curse…the kazaana." He gritted his teeth. "Obviously I also assumed the worst with you as well…" The monk sighed. "I guess you don't work with him either." He then shrugged. "So I guess there is no need to fight after all. If you are an enemy of Naraku, then you are an ally of mine." The monk relaxed his stance; he bent down to pick up his staff that he had dropped sometime in all of the activity, leaving himself fully opened for attack.

But Inuyasha could not bring himself to attack. Despite the fact that this all seemed too much of a coincidence all of the sudden, he knew the monk was not lying. Instead, he settled for a frustrated growl.

The monk settled himself on the floor. "Sit down Inuyasha, there is much I want to know, and much that you could tell me…mostly about Naraku of course, and I'm sure I know something that could be advantageous for you."

"Sit down! Monk, what are you babbling about? I have to get out of here. I am at the temple right?"

"Okay…look just wait a second, let me think." The monk said bringing his hand to his chin.

"Well hurry up! I don't have all day." Inuyasha 'humphed.'

"Alright, if you don't work for Naraku…"

"I don't." Inuyasha snorted

"…and if you tell me what you know about him…then I'll get you out of here."

"Feh. Why should I depend on you? I am a half-demon you know."

"You wouldn't make it out of here without me…there are priestesses all over the place, not to mention the ones standing right outside of your door.

"Okay fine, if you get me out of here I'll tell you what you want to know about Naraku. It isn't much…but whatever."

"Good, now give me just one moment." And with a smirk, the monk swept out of the room.

* * *

"There it is!"

"Hold! It's got followers!"

"Damn, is that thing ugly or what?"

Sango smirked in battle anticipation. She could practically feel the energy radiating off the other slayers. She glanced at Kohaku, who had gone white in the face at the appearance of the demon.

"Kohaku. I'm right here. Father's right there. Your friends and others you know are all around you. Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine." Sango said with a reassuring smile.

Kohaku managed a shaky smile back at her, but gulped just the same.

"Slayers! Let's see it! Attack!" Their father roared and gave the signs of advancement.

Sango patted Kirara's head before the firecat soared into the air, following the other exterminators.

The others buzzed through her and Kohaku who still had not moved. Sango let them go; she would join the fray in a moment.

"Use your instincts. You will be fine. Let's go." She said with a nod o f her head. She moved on, trusting her brother to follow her.

Sango was at the tail end of the fight. The demon was a huge, of the spider variety, an ugly piece of work to be suer, something that not all slayers were equipped to handle so many of them contented themselves with fighting the lesser demons. She moved in to help the few targeting the spider youkai, passing by other skirmishes with lesser demons as the slayers came out on top.

The injuries the youkai was receiving were negligible. Her father had inflicted a wound or two, while one of the other slayers had also cut off one of the demon's extremities, a long tentacle-like leg. This was not doing much to slow down the demon however, as one of the slayers charged in, weapon raised, only to be sent flying back near Sango, by the demon. Sango paused for a moment to check on the exterminator. He was merely stunned, so with a light touch on his shoulder, she moved on.

Kohaku followed her; he gave a gulp as he passed by the slayer. Sango acknowledged him with a glance. He was focused entirely on the big demon in front of them. Out of the corner of her eye, Sango saw an approaching demon. Pushing down that brief rise of panic, at seeing who the demon was targeting, she let out a yell.

"Kohaku! Left! To your left!"

His eyes widened briefly, but he readied his kursarikama, the blade gleaming in the pale moonlight. And with something akin to the fluid grace that Sango recognized in herself and in her father, he let the blade fly. It sliced easily through the demon, decapitating it, as he yanked the chain back toward himself, easily catching the handle of the blade.

Sango gave a smile, as Kohaku looked to her grinning, appearing quite pleased with himself. She nodded toward the spider demon and the slayers fighting it, and his grin became something of that steely glare she saw her father give. Sango took off at a sprint, taking out a few of the lesser demons as she approached the spider youkai.

She heard Kirara roaring in the distance, felt the lesser demons dying around her. Now it was time to end this. And there was her opening. The other slayers had backed off the spider demon, and all of the sudden Kirara was there flying besides her. In a graceful leap, she was on Kirara's back, Hiraikotsu held ready in her right hand. She looked down briefly at Kohaku, wanting to see what he would do now. He kept sprinting, dispatching a few demons on the way. He was heading toward her father she could see that now, and then Sango turned her attention back toward the now rapidly approaching spider demon.

The demon's monstrous head turned its attention toward her in the air. Kirara dodged a swiping leg easily, and then flew under the belly of the demon. Sango raised Hiraikotsu, and heard the demon let out a hair-raising shriek as she inflicted a wound on its underbelly.

Kirara then flew out from underneath and quickly climbed into the air. The firecat spun around abruptly, and flew back over the back of the demon. Sango took this as her cue, and flipped down from Kirara landing on the youkai's back in a crouch. She stepped lightly on the demon's back, keenly aware of its attempts to shake her off as it moved beneath her feet.

Sango kept her balance though, approaching the head of the demon. Once atop of its head, she readied the Hiraikotsu for the killing blow. She kept her balance as the yoaki let out a shriek and bucked its head.

But with her intense concentration on the demon below her, Sango failed to pick up on one of the approaching lesser demons until it was too late. The demon collided with her side, sending her tumbling over the spider demon's head.

Sango, however, grabbed the short hair on the head, thankful that it was hair and not an exoskeleton of sorts where she had been standing. She had also managed to hook Hiraikotsu's cloth band around her arm, so that instead of dropping to the ground below, it hung awkwardly from her arm, making it even harder to pull herself back up. However, she preferred this difficulty over the other option having it far away on the ground below, susceptible to being broken.

The spider demon let out a roar as it felt her dangling from the side. Sango was aware of the shouts below from the other slayers.

"Okay…okay…what to do Sango…you can't obviously hang here forever…" She murmured to herself. "Where is Kirara?"

She looked around as best as she could and spotted the firecat a ways away fighting amidst many other demons. There would not be any help coming from there for awhile.

"This is extremely uncomfortable...time for another daredevil stunt I guess…not good…"

She reached down with one arm and grabbed her rarely used handgun at her waist.

"Gods…this is going to kill me."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

I originally wasn't going to end it here…but I really like this ending…so yeah…cliffhangerishy.

Remember…it will be up to ya'll…the readers…if you want this to continue or let it stay a cliffhanger forever.

Again, I really hate having to do this. I enjoy writing…but I have a lot of other things going on. I can easily stop…however, part of me wants to continue, and it might just take a little convincing.

E-mail me, leave a review, or whatever if you have any questions, complaints, comments, flames, etc…

I hate it when it looks like I'm fishing for reviews. Honestly I'm not...but yeah...

pink shoelace


End file.
